Female Prostate? - Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma of Female Urethra

Clear cell adenocarcinoma of the female urethra is extremely rare. Because the primary urethral carcinomas are rare, standard diagnostic algorism and management has not been established yet. We report a case of clear cell adenocarcinoma of the proximal urethra in a 76-year-old female. She was presented with voiding difficulty for several years after pubovaginal sling operation due to stress urinary incontinence twelve years ago. Before this period, she had managed with medication for detrusor hypocontractility. Recently she complained bloody vaginal discharge, and her vaginal examination revealed palpable mass on the anterior vaginal wall. Pelvic MRI showed a 5×4.5cm sized tumor surrounding the proximal urethra which was mimicking prostate with no lymphadenopathy. Biopsy of the mass confirmed it to be clear cell adenocarcinoma. She underwent anterior pelvic exenteration and ileal conduit with bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection. The patient received adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy as treatment. We should carefully evaluate patients with voiding symptom after anti-incontinence surgery and multimodal treatment should be applied for locally advanced urethral carcinoma.

Comparison of Burch Colposuspension, Pubovaginal Sling Operation and Tension-Free Vaginal Tape for Surgical Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence In Women / 대한산부인과학회잡지

OBJECTIVE: The object of this study was to compare the cure rate and confirm the clinical efficacy of three most frequent surgical procedures for stress urinary incontinence (Burch colposuspension, pubovaginal sling operation, tension-free vaginal tape). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected datas from the records of ninety-one patients who were diagnosed as stress urinary incontinence from Jan. 1999 to May 2001. Burch colposuspension was performed by department of gynecology, Severance hospital in thirty-three patients, pubovaginal sling operation was performed by department of urology in twenty-eight patients, and tension-free vaginal tape was performed by department of urology in thirty-one patients. We investigated the characteristics of patients, preoperative urodynamic study results, cure rates and complication rates for the result, and compared them by x2-test. RESULTS: There were statistically no significant differences between the cure rate of each operation after 3, 6 month of operation but after 12 months of follow up, the cure rate of pubovaginal sling operation was significantly higher than that of Burch operation and tension-free vaginal tape. CONCLUSION: The cure rate of pubovaginal sling operation was significantly higher after 12 months of follow up after surgery. There was no significant difference between cure rates of Burch operation and tension- free vaginal tape. We propose randomized prospective study with larger population in the future.